Could be Buddhist… but isn’t (post your quotes)

“Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not. Attachment leads to jealously. The shadow of greed, that is.”

“In a dark place we find ourselves, and a little more knowledge lights our way.”

“Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future.”

“Named must your fear be before banish it you can.”

“Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.”

“You will know (the good from the bad) when you are calm, at peace. Passive."

Grand Master Yoda

“Many of the truths that we cling to depend on our point of view.”

Obi-Wan Kenobi

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Preacher was a talkin’, there’s a sermon he gave
He said every man’s conscience is vile and depraved
You cannot depend on it to be your guide
When it’s you who must keep it satisfied

Bob Dylan: https://genius.com/Bob-dylan-man-in-the-long-black-coat-lyrics

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If there’s a bustle in your hedgerow, don’t be alarmed now

  • robert plant

Could be a paraphrase of MN 4!

As I was staying there a deer came by, or a peacock snapped a twig, or the wind rustled the leaves. Then I thought, ‘Is this that fear and dread coming?’ Then I thought, ‘Why do I always meditate expecting that fear and terror to come? Why don’t I get rid of that fear and dread just as it comes, while remaining just as I am?’

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lol! This is the best one yet! And the silliest :slight_smile:

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Sure there are two paths you could go by, but in the long run, it’s not too late to change the road you’re on.

https://suttacentral.net/sn22.84/en/sujato

Suppose, Tissa, there were two people. One was not skilled in the path, the other was. The one not skilled in the path would question the one skilled in the path, who would reply: ‘Come, good man, this is the path. Go down it a little, and you’ll see a fork in the road. Ignore the left, and take the right-hand path. Go a little further, and you’ll see a dark forest grove. Go a little further, and you’ll see an expanse of low-lying marshes. Go a little further, and you’ll see a large, steep cliff. Go a little further, and you’ll see level, cleared parkland.’

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As you know, the Dylan song I’ve thought about a lot as a monk has been “All Along the Watchtower”, especially these lines:

Businessmen, they drink my wine
Plowmen dig my earth
None of them along the line
Know what any of it is worth

As I see e.g. so many Thai monks waste their holy life, officials stealing from the people, businesses exploiting their workers, etc etc… “None of them along the line / Know what any of it is worth”

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Job 14.7

Thanks @Lea another oldie but a goodie :slight_smile:

This one is a much longer one, but it is worth reading and very much blew my tiny mind when I came across it, it is from the conferences of Cassian, his interview with Moses the Black:

All the arts and sciences, said he, have some goal or mark; and end or aim of their own, on which the diligent pursuer of each art has his eye, and so endures all sorts of toils and dangers and losses, cheerfully and with equanimity, e.g., the farmer, shunning neither at one time the scorching heat of the sun, nor at another the frost and cold, cleaves the earth unweariedly, and again and again subjects the clods of his field to his ploughshare, while he keeps before him his goal; viz., by diligent labour to break it up small like fine sand, and to clear it of all briers, and free it from all weeds, as he believes that in no other way can he gain his ultimate end, which is to secure a good harvest, and a large crop; on which he can either live himself free from care, or can increase his possessions. Again, when his barn is well stocked he is quite ready to empty it, and with incessant labour to commit the seed to the crumbling furrow, thinking nothing of the present lessening of his stores in view of the future harvest. Those men too who are engaged in mercantile pursuits, have no dread of the uncertainties and chances of the ocean, and fear no risks, while an eager hope urges them forward to their aim of gain. Moreover those who are inflamed with the ambition of military life, while they look forward to their aim of honours and power take no notice of danger and destruction in their wanderings, and are not crushed by present losses and wars, while they are eager to obtain the end of some honour held out to them. And our profession too has its own goal and end, for which we undergo all sorts of toils not merely without weariness but actually with delight; on account of which the want of food in fasting is no trial to us, the weariness of our vigils becomes a delight; reading and constant meditation on the Scriptures does not pall upon us; and further incessant toil, and self-denial, and the privation of all things, and the horrors also of this vast desert have no terrors for us. And doubtless for this it was that you yourselves despised the love of kinsfolk, and scorned your fatherland, and the delights of this world, and passed through so many countries, in order that you might come to us, plain and simple folk as we are, living in this wretched state in the desert. Wherefore, said he, answer and tell me what is the goal and end, which incite you to endure all these things so cheerfully.

And when he insisted on eliciting an opinion from us on this question, we replied that we endured all this for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.

To which he replied: Good, you have spoken cleverly of the (ultimate) end. But what should be our (immediate) goal or mark, by constantly sticking close to which we can gain our end, you ought first to know. And when we frankly confessed our ignorance, he proceeded: The first thing, as I said, in all the arts and sciences is to have some goal, i.e., a mark for the mind, and constant mental purpose, for unless a man keeps this before him with all diligence and persistence, he will never succeed in arriving at the ultimate aim and the gain which he desires. For, as I said, the farmer who has for his aim to live free from care and with plenty, while his crops are springing has this as his immediate object and goal; viz., to keep his field clear from all brambles, and weeds, and does not fancy that he can otherwise ensure wealth and a peaceful end, unless he first secures by some plan of work and hope that which he is anxious to obtain. The business man too does not lay aside the desire of procuring wares, by means of which he may more profitably amass riches, because he would desire gain to no purpose, unless he chose the road which leads to it: and those men who are anxious to be decorated with the honours of this world, first make up their minds to what duties and conditions they must devote themselves, that in the regular course of hope they may succeed in gaining the honours they desire. And so the end of our way of life is indeed the kingdom of God. But what is the (immediate) goal you must earnestly ask, for if it is not in the same way discovered by us, we shall strive and wear ourselves out to no purpose, because a man who is travelling in a wrong direction, has all the trouble and gets none of the good of his journey. And when we stood gaping at this remark, the old man proceeded: The end of our profession indeed, as I said, is the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven: but the immediate aim or goal, is purity of heart, without which no one can gain that end: fixing our gaze then steadily on this goal, as if on a definite mark, let us direct our course as straight towards it as possible, and if our thoughts wander somewhat from this, let us revert to our gaze upon it, and check them accurately as by a sure standard, which will always bring back all our efforts to this one mark, and will show at once if our mind has wandered ever so little from the direction marked out for it.

As those, whose business it is to use weapons of war, whenever they want to show their skill in their art before a king of this world, try to shoot their arrows or darts into certain small targets which have the prizes painted on them; for they know that they cannot in any other way than by the line of their aim secure the end and the prize they hope for, which they will only then enjoy when they have been able to hit the mark set before them; but if it happens to be withdrawn from their sight, however much in their want of skill their aim may vainly deviate from the straight path, yet they cannot perceive that they have strayed from the direction of the intended straight line because they have no distinct mark to prove the skilfulness of their aim, or to show up its badness: and therefore while they shoot their missiles idly into space, they cannot see how they have gone wrong or how utterly at fault they are, since no mark is their accuser, showing how far they have gone astray from the right direction; nor can an unsteady look help them to correct and restore the straight line enjoined on them. So then the end indeed which we have set before us is, as the Apostle says, eternal life, as he declares, having indeed your fruit unto holiness, and the end eternal life; Romans 6:22 but the immediate goal is purity of heart, which he not unfairly terms sanctification, without which the afore-mentioned end cannot be gained; as if he had said in other words, having your immediate goal in purity of heart, but the end life eternal. Of which goal the same blessed Apostle teaches us, and significantly uses the very term, i.e., σκοπός, saying as follows, Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those that are before, I press toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of the Lord: Philippians 3:13-14 which is more clearly put in Greek κατὰ σκοπὸν διώκω, i.e., I press toward the mark, as if he said, With this aim, with which I forget those things that are behind, i.e., the faults of earlier life, I strive to reach as the end the heavenly prize. Whatever then can help to guide us to this object; viz., purity of heart, we must follow with all our might, but whatever hinders us from it, we must shun as a dangerous and hurtful thing. For, for this we do and endure all things, for this we make light of our kinsfolk, our country, honours, riches, the delights of this world, and all kinds of pleasures, namely in order that we may retain a lasting purity of heart. And so when this object is set before us, we shall always direct our actions and thoughts straight towards the attainment of it; for if it be not constantly fixed before our eyes, it will not only make all our toils vain and useless, and force them to be endured to no purpose and without any reward, but it will also excite all kinds of thoughts opposed to one another. For the mind, which has no fixed point to which it may return, and on which it may chiefly fasten, is sure to rove about from hour to hour and minute to minute in all sorts of wandering thoughts, and from those things which come to it from outside, to be constantly changed into that state which first offers itself to it.

link.

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:blush:

OMG!


An interesting one is from the legend of Sir Gawain and Lady Ragnell. He searches for a year to answer the question, “what do women want?”. Ultimately she told him:

“Sir,” said Lady Ragnell, “now you will know what it is that women desire above all else. Some men say we desire to be beautiful, or that we desire attentions from many men, or that we desire to be married well. Thus, these men do not know the truth. What we desire above all else is to have sovereignty, to rule our lives as we see fit, to not be beholden to another.”

He could have saved himself a lot of time if only he’d read AN 6.52:

Women’s ultimate goal is authority.

Yes fellas, the shocking revelation to the perennial mystery that is a woman’s mind! It seems they like … not having men tell them what to do all the time. How could we possibly have known that?


There’s also a parallel to dependent origination in the Egyptian pyramid texts, but I guess probably no-one’s interested in that.

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You could quote nearly the entire of the Enchiridion by Epictetus, it has many similarities

Never say of anything, “I have lost it”; but, “I have returned it.” Is your child dead? It is returned. Is your wife dead? She is returned. Is your estate taken away? Well, and is not that likewise returned? “But he who took it away is a bad man.” What difference is it to you who the giver assigns to take it back? While he gives it to you to possess, take care of it; but don’t view it as your own, just as travelers view a hotel.

These reasonings are unconnected: “I am richer than you, therefore I am better”; “I am more eloquent than you, therefore I am better.” The connection is rather this: “I am richer than you, therefore my property is greater than yours;” “I am more eloquent than you, therefore my style is better than yours.” But you, after all, are neither property nor style.

Remember that following desire promises the attainment of that of which you are desirous; and aversion promises the avoiding that to which you are averse. However, he who fails to obtain the object of his desire is disappointed, and he who incurs the object of his aversion wretched. If, then, you confine your aversion to those objects only which are contrary to the natural use of your faculties, which you have in your own control, you will never incur anything to which you are averse. But if you are averse to sickness, or death, or poverty, you will be wretched. Remove aversion, then, from all things that are not in our control, and transfer it to things contrary to the nature of what is in our control. But, for the present, totally suppress desire: for, if you desire any of the things which are not in your own control, you must necessarily be disappointed; and of those which are, and which it would be laudable to desire, nothing is yet in your possession. Use only the appropriate actions of pursuit and avoidance; and even these lightly, and with gentleness and reservation.

Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our own actions.

The things in our control are by nature free, unrestrained, unhindered; but those not in our control are weak, slavish, restrained, belonging to others. Remember, then, that if you suppose that things which are slavish by nature are also free, and that what belongs to others is your own, then you will be hindered. You will lament, you will be disturbed, and you will find fault both with gods and men. But if you suppose that only to be your own which is your own, and what belongs to others such as it really is, then no one will ever compel you or restrain you. Further, you will find fault with no one or accuse no one. You will do nothing against your will. No one will hurt you, you will have no enemies, and you not be harmed.

When walking, you are careful not to step on a nail or turn your foot; so likewise be careful not to hurt the ruling faculty of your mind. And, if we were to guard against this in every action, we should undertake the action with the greater safety.

Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles and notions which they form concerning things. Death, for instance, is not terrible, else it would have appeared so to Socrates. But the terror consists in our notion of death that it is terrible. When therefore we are hindered, or disturbed, or grieved, let us never attribute it to others, but to ourselves; that is, to our own principles. An uninstructed person will lay the fault of his own bad condition upon others. Someone just starting instruction will lay the fault on himself. Some who is perfectly instructed will place blame neither on others nor on himself.

When you see anyone weeping in grief because his son has gone abroad, or is dead, or because he has suffered in his affairs, be careful that the appearance may not misdirect you. Instead, distinguish within your own mind, and be prepared to say, “It’s not the accident that distresses this person., because it doesn’t distress another person; it is the judgment which he makes about it.” As far as words go, however, don’t reduce yourself to his level, and certainly do not moan with him. Do not moan inwardly either.

There’s a lot more, you could say Epictetus could have been a pacceka buddha The Internet Classics Archive | The Enchiridion by Epictetus

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That’s why I can’t get behind politicians, you know. 'Cause they’re always like “Our biggest problem today is unemployment”. And I’m like “What about getting old and sick and dying?” […] Seriously, if there was a politician ever that said “By my second term, there will be no death” […] I’d just give that guy all my money, and I’d sit on a chair.

-Norm MacDonald

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Oh baby I’m thinkin’ about your body
Thinkin’ about your face
~ Bobby McFerrin

† decomposing in a charnel ground
‡ being picked apart by crows

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Truth is a pathless land
Jiddu Krishnamurti

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Faith and Belief

Give us this day our daily faith, but deliver us, dear God, from Belief.
Aldous Huxley,
Island

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These are great @Thito !

Sort of depends.

If the sentence is read in goal language/framework, then it’s wrong, against buddhist principles. There’s very clearly kamma which is an impersonal universal law, with clear good and bad side.

If it is read as method framework, then it can be an expression of suspending reaction part of mindfulness. So one doesn’t feel so keen on reacting with aversion or greed towards bad or good.

The point of method framework is that it’s not true in goal framework, but it’s a useful method to get to the goal of abandoning covertousness and grief with regards to the world.

It also has similar vibe with “Good, bad, who knows” story.

Note: I have no idea what Hamlet’s story is, I might had read some summary of it, but still no impression of him. So the analysis is only based on the sentence, not Hamlet, not the background source.

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Much of Stoicism “could be Buddhist, but isn’t”.

Despite different metaphysics, much of the advice is derived from looking at reality as it is, so perhaps it should not be a surprise, but it is inspiring that two very different sets of people came up with very similar prescriptions for life.

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Thanks for the passage from Cassian. I’ve always found the Desert Fathers and Mothers to be a great source of inspiration and wisdom.

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For life is quite absurd,
And death’s the final word,
You must always face the curtain with a bow,
Forget about your sin,
give the audience a grin,
Enjoy it, it’s you last chance of the hour.

So, always look on the bright side of death,
Just before you draw your terminal breath,
Life’s a piece o’ :poop:,
When you look at it,
Life’s a laugh and death’s a joke it’s true,
You’ll see it’s all a show,
Keep 'em laughing as you go,
Remember that the last laugh is on you.

And, always look on the bright side of life,
Always look on the right side of life,
Come on, Brian cheer up,…

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Yes! The desert fathers and the stoics are definitely good non-Buddhist Buddhism, Ecclesiastes too I think has a fairly Buddhist flavour, might try and hunt down a suitable quote from there…

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